jackwener/OpenCLI · error · CommandExecutionError

DuckDuckGo suggest request failed: ${err instanceof Error ?

Error message

DuckDuckGo suggest request failed: ${err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)}

What it means

The DuckDuckGo suggest command fetches https://duckduckgo.com/ac/ to get autocomplete phrases. If the fetch itself rejects (network unreachable, DNS failure, TLS error, aborted request), the error is wrapped in a CommandExecutionError whose message embeds the original error's message. This distinguishes transport-level failures from HTTP status errors and JSON parse failures.

Source

Thrown at clis/duckduckgo/suggest.js:26

  access: 'read',
  description: 'DuckDuckGo search suggestions',
  domain: 'duckduckgo.com',
  strategy: Strategy.PUBLIC,
  browser: false,
  args: [
    { name: 'keyword', positional: true, required: true, help: 'Search query prefix' },
    { name: 'limit', type: 'int', default: 8, help: 'Max number of suggestions' },
  ],
  columns: ['phrase'],
  func: async (kwargs) => {
    const limit = requireBoundedInteger(kwargs.limit, 8, 1, 20, '--limit');
    const keyword = encodeURIComponent(requireSearchQuery(kwargs.keyword));
    const url = `https://duckduckgo.com/ac/?q=${keyword}&type=list`;
    let resp;
    try {
      resp = await fetch(url);
    } catch (err) {
      throw new CommandExecutionError(`DuckDuckGo suggest request failed: ${err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err)}`);
    }
    if (!resp.ok) {
      throw new CommandExecutionError(`DuckDuckGo suggest returned HTTP ${resp.status}`);
    }
    let data;
    try {
      data = await resp.json();
    } catch (err) {
      throw new CommandExecutionError(`DuckDuckGo suggest returned malformed JSON: ${err?.message ?? err}`);
    }
    const phrases = Array.isArray(data) && data.length > 1 && Array.isArray(data[1]) ? data[1] : [];
    return phrases
      .filter((phrase) => typeof phrase === 'string' && phrase.trim())
      .slice(0, limit)
      .map(function(p) { return { phrase: p }; });
  },
});

View on GitHub (pinned to 49907e53dc)

Solutions

Check network connectivity and that duckduckgo.com is reachable (curl https://duckduckgo.com/ac/?q=test&type=list)
Configure proxy environment variables (HTTPS_PROXY) if behind a firewall
Retry — many failures are transient; add backoff
Catch CommandExecutionError and surface a 'network unavailable' message to users
Pin/fix TLS/DNS settings if the embedded message indicates a certificate or DNS problem

Example fix

// before
const s = await ddgSuggest({ keyword: 'cats' }); // throws on network error
// after
try {
  const s = await ddgSuggest({ keyword: 'cats' });
} catch (err) {
  if (err.message.includes('suggest request failed')) return []; // offline: no suggestions
  throw err;
}

Defensive patterns

Strategy: retry

Validate before calling

// probe connectivity first
const ok = await fetch('https://duckduckgo.com', { method: 'HEAD' }).then(r => r.ok).catch(() => false);
if (!ok) throw new Error('duckduckgo.com unreachable — check network/proxy');

Try / catch

try {
  return await ddgSuggest({ keyword });
} catch (err) {
  if (/suggest request failed/.test(err?.message ?? '')) {
    await sleep(1000);
    return ddgSuggest({ keyword }); // one retry for transient network issues
  }
  throw err;
}

Prevention

Configure HTTPS_PROXY in restricted environments
Add exponential backoff around network calls
Check DNS/VPN when running in CI or corporate networks
Fail soft (return []) when suggestions are optional

When it happens

Trigger: fetch() rejects when calling the suggest endpoint: no internet, DNS resolution failure, connection refused/reset, TLS/certificate problems, or request timeout/abort.

Common situations: Running in an offline or air-gapped environment; corporate proxy/firewall blocking duckduckgo.com; DNS misconfiguration; IPv6 issues; transient network outage in CI.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of jackwener/OpenCLI@49907e53dc (2026-08-29). Data as JSON: /api/errors/2e3d8d4f680cb6e2. Report an issue: GitHub.